26 Nov 2012

DR CONGO / GOMA

The deadline for M23 rebels to withdraw from Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is set to expire today. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is distributing food aid to roughly 81,000 displaced people who have taken refuge in and around the city amid the ongoing unrest in the region. WFP

Posted at: November 26, 2012 2:27 pm

Duration: 01:23

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: DR CONGO / GOMA
TRT: 1.23
SOURCE: WFP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 26 NOVEMBER 2012, MUNIGI, NORTH OF GOMA, DR CONGO / 24 NOVEMBER 2012, MUGUNGA IDP CAMP

SHOTLIST:

26 NOVEMBER 2012, MUNIGI, NORTH OF GOMA, DR CONGO

1.	Various shots, people returning to their villages in Rutshuru territory

24 NOVEMBER 2012, MUGUNGA IDP CAMP, DR CONGO

2.	Various shots, WFP food distribution 
3.	Pan left, camp
4.	Med shot, child sifting flour 
5.	Various shots, children in front of straw hut

6.	SOUNDBITE (English) Wolfram Herfurth, World Food Programme (WFP) Goma:
"Today we are assisting in twelve sites some 80 thousand people with a three days ration of maize meal pulses, oil and salt. They are all war displaced population, some of them are going home to their origin to Rutshuru, others are forced still to stay in the camps "
7.	Various shots, WFP food distribution

STORYLINE:

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has begun distributing vital food assistance to roughly 81,000 displaced people who have taken refuge in and around Goma, amid the ongoing unrest in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Since Friday (23 November), WFP food rations are being distributed to families in and near Goma, where they have sought shelter after clashes in North Kivu earlier this week. Most of the families fled to the provincial capital from other camps for the displaced in the surrounding areas, including Kanyaruchynia,  ten kilometers north of Goma, and Sake, west of the city.

While WFP temporarily suspended food distributions for security reasons when the unrest spread to Goma with the M23 rebel group's taking of the city, the agency's staff have since then been able to evaluate the situation and begin distributing an initial ration of three days' worth of food to families, contributed by Canada, Japan and the United States of America.

SOUNDBITE (English) Wolfram Herfurth, World Food Programme (WFP) Goma:
"Today we are assisting in twelve sites some 80 thousand people with a three days ration of maize meal pulses, oil and salt. They are all war displaced population, some of them are going home to their origin to Rutshuru, others are forced still to stay in the camps."

WFP will continue assessing the situation as it evolves and will conduct further distributions as needed.

The agency says the situation in North Kivu – where more than 800,000 people had already been displaced from their homes – remains extremely worrying. Roughly 470,000 displaced people have been receiving WFP food assistance in recent months. This latest wave of displacements further erodes humanitarian conditions not only in North Kivu, but also in nearby provinces.

WFP urgently needs more funding to respond to this latest crisis, and calls on the international community to further support its work in DRC.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday (24 November) welcomed a joint statement issued by the President of the DRC Joseph Kabila, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni, calling on the 23 March Movement (M23) rebel group to immediately cease fire in eastern DRC.

M23 fighters – a rebel group composed of soldiers who mutinied from the DRC national army in April – occupied Goma, the capital of North Kivu, last week after a wave of attacks. Fighting has continued and the rebels are now said to have reached the town of Sake, which is 20 kilometres west of Goma.

The advance of the M23 has uprooted some 60,0000 civilians and fuelled numerous allegations of human rights abuses by both the rebels and the national army, known by the French acronym FARDC.